I received a call from Micah's immunologist today (yes, we have another specialist on our list after the April experience). She was very encouraged by Micah's improvement in his pneumoccocal titers. Right. Like you understand what THAT means.
Micah had some labs drawn in July. There were a few abnormalities found. The most critical, in the doctor's mind, was that his pneumoccocal titers were low. Basically, that means that his ability to fight off a streptococcal bacteria was limited (when Micah was so sick back in April, labs ended up showing not just staph, but also strep). On the standard vaccination list is a series of shots called Prevnar (I think it's four of the ridiculous number of vaccination shots our kids get before they're 18 months old... and no, I don't want to get into a vaccination debate today).
So Micah ended up getting a "bigger gun" vaccination (Pneumovax) after that. He was supposed to get bloodwork done six weeks after that, but he was sick at that time so we delayed a bit. Anyway, his titers improved significantly so she feels good about not seeing Micah until March or April.
The other issue that continues to present itself is that Micah has a low level of B-cells. In a nutshell, it means he's low on antibodies needed to fight off infection. His doctor will check it again the next time we see her. But there's really nothing that can be done about it. It could be a Micah thing. It could be a Down syndrome thing. It could be a lingering effect of how hard his body had to work back in April.
Anyway... I'm just glad that the Pneumovax worked, or we might have been looking at IVIg transfusions on a long-term basis.
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Hi Jennie!
Have not visited your blog for a while, but just wanted to share that both my older son and DH had very low titers to pneumoccocal. Harrison would always get sicker easier, and stay sicker longer, and I questioned the ped about his immune system to no avail. I finally took him to an allergist and asked that his immune system be checked a few years ago. That is when they found the abnormality. On a lark I told DH to get checked as well, as he always had chronic sinus issues. Lo and behold they have the same abnormality, so it is hereditary. Both got Pheumovax and now their titers are within normal range, and neither are sick nearly as much. I never "met" anyone else who had this issue.
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